A lawsuit filed against a gun manufacturer by a retired LAPD officer, who was paralyzed when his toddler son accidentally fired the officer’s handgun while riding in the family truck, was dismissed today by a judge.

“The LAPD went through an exhaustive process to authorize the use of the Glock, which in my view is critical,” Brazile said.

Chavez’s attorney, Ian Herzog, argued that just because the LAPD found the gun to be safe does not mean it was non-defective.

“If you’re correct about that, it amounts to a revolution in products liability,” Herzog told the judge.

The lawyer said a jury should have been allowed to choose between Chavez’s argument concerning the risks of not having a safety on Glock guns and his resulting tragic injuries as opposed to the manufacturer’s claims regarding the benefits of having a weapon ready to fire in a crucial situation without worrying about the safety being accidentally left engaged.

Chavez, now 39, was off duty when he was shot on July 11, 2006, while driving his Ford Ranger near Harbor Boulevard and La Palma Avenue in Anaheim. The former Marine, who joined the LAPD in 1996, was on his way to drop off his son with a family member before testifying in a court case.

The child, then 3, got hold of his father’s weapon while sitting in the back seat and shot him in the back. Chavez, who was assigned to the Newton Division, was left paralyzed from the waist down.

The suit was filed in July 2008 on behalf of Chavez and his wife, Leonora, who sought unspecified damages on allegations of negligence, strict products liability, breach of warranty and loss of consortium.

Brazile threw out the entire case. In addition to Glock, the named defendants were the Los Angeles Police Revolver and Athletic Club, which sold Chavez the gun in 2003; Uncle Mike’s and Bushnell Outdoor Products, which manufactured a gun hip holster for the firearm; and Turner’s Outdoorsman, where Chavez bought the holster.

The former officer alleged the gun and hip holster were negligently designed. But Brazile said there was no connection between the holster and Chavez’s injuries.

Defense attorneys stated in their court papers that Chavez admitted he forgot the gun was in the back seat when he put his son in the truck. When police found the gun, it was outside the holster, they said.

“(Chavez) admits that he could have easily prevented this incident by following (Glock’s) warnings, his LAPD training and some common sense,” according to the handgun manufacturer’s court papers.